there was no law banning women from specific jobs in the military, but there was a defense department policy that said women could not serve in units whose primary mission was to engage in direct combat on the ground. so that has been the rule. no women in combat. that's the rule. supposedly. as if. >> well, i didn't lose my legs in a bar fight. >> that's illinois congresswoman tammy duckworth, a blackhawk pilot who lost both legs in iraq. technically she was not engaged in ground warfare because she was flying the aircraft and it was only the people shooting her down on the ground. do you really want to split hairs with her about whether or not that count as combat? in the wars and iraq and afghanistan, defining what counts as a combat role and what does not count as a combat role has been a fool's errand from the beginning. in those wars over the past decade, 61 american women have been killed in iraq in combat by hostile action. and in afghanistan, where the war is still going on, so far 23 american women have been killed in combat by hostile action. nearly a thousand american wome